2003 NORTHEAST-10 WOMEN’S SOCCER TOURNAMENT Top-Seeded Franklin Pierce Coasts Past #8 Pace, 6-0
Hislop, Welcome lead offensive charge, Ravens to face Southern N.H. in semis
RINDGE, N.H. (November 2, 2003) - Top-seeded Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 9 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, jumped out to an early lead and coasted to a 6-0 victory over eighth-seeded Pace University in quarterfinal round action of the 2003 Northeast-10 Conference women's soccer tournament this afternoon.
Franklin Pierce (16-2) advances to Wednesday's semifinal round and will host fifth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University (11-3-4) at a time to be determined. Southern New Hampshire advanced with a 2-1 victory at fourth-seeded Bryant College (14-5-2) today. Pace wraps up its season with a 9-8-1 record overall.
Sophomore forward Laura Hislop (Belfast, Northern Ireland) totaled seven points with three goals and an assist, while junior All-American Meghan Welcome (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) added five points with a goal (50th of her career) and three assists to lead the Franklin Pierce offense to its largest goal output against a Conference opponent since its 10-1 win over Stonehill College back on September 24.
Hislop netted the only goal Franklin Pierce would need just 3:25 into the contest when she took a through ball from Welcome and marched in one-on-one with Pace sophomore goalkeeper Ria Carroll (Warwick, R.I./Toll Gate) and fired the Ravens first shot of the match into the upper right corner of the net.
Sophomore Sonya Hughes (Balbriggan, Ireland) gave the Ravens a two-goal lead just 7:26 later when she chipped a shot over Carroll from just outside the penalty area after a long ball over the top from freshman Mia Makarainen (Espoo, Finland) was flicked in by Welcome.
Welcome knocked in a rebound on the line after a cross from Hislop for her goal in the 31st minute and Hislop rounded out the first half scoring with a penalty kick at the 32:28-mark after Welcome was dragged down in the box.
Hislop opened the second half scoring in the 62nd minute to finish off her third hat trick of the season and sophomore Kirsi Ekberg (Klaukkala, Finland) rounded out the scoring with her first career goal in the 77th minute, assisted by senior Jillian Tente (Wakefield, R.I./South Kingstown).
Senior goalkeeper Aase Kibsgaard (Korgen, Norway) made three saves for Franklin Pierce to post her seventh shutout of the season and 15th of her career to move into sole possession of fifth place on the College's all-time list.
Carroll finished with seven saves for the Setters in just under 71-minutes of work before giving way to freshman Jocelyn Durando (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury), who totaled three stops over the final 19:03.
Franklin Pierce finished with a 26-5 advantage in shots for the match after taking a 15-0 advantage after 45-minutes.